Temperate GrasslandsBy:

Dustin Gallimore&

Collins Washington

What is a Temperate Grassland?

Temperate grasslands- Is a terrestrial biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from semi-arid to semi-humid.

Climate

Climate: Semiarid-describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration. Warm to hot summers are experienced, depending on latitude.

Vegetation

Vegetation: Perennial grasses and perennial forbs [especially Composite (or Astraea, depending on the taxonomic system used) and Leguminous--the sunflower and pea families, respectively] are dominant growth forms. Two or more strata of grasses (erect grasses and recumbent species) are recognized in the more humid expressions of the biome.

Annual Rainfall

typically have between 10 and 20 inches of precipitation a year. Much of this falls as snow, serving as reservoir of moisture for the beginning of the growing season

Animals in the temperate grassland

Zebras

Bison

MercatWolverine

Canvasback Duck

Location(Latitude)

Limiting factorGrass fires that would burn tree seedling and saplings before they could invade the grasslands. The temperature range from hot summers and long, cold winters also is a limiting factor.

Negative Human Impact

Large areas of grassland have been turned into farmlands for growing crops and for rearing cattle. Sometimes, fires are started by human and they spread quickly through grasses and damage the soils. Moreover, a large number of animals have been hunted for their valuable body parts. For example, elephants were shot for their tusks, lions were killed for their fur and bison were hunted for their meats.

Positive Human Impact The hunting of animals have been banned due to

extinction. National Parks have been created in order to preserve the

grassland biome. People are becoming more aware of the situation and favor in protecting the TG biome.

Positive human impacts on temperate grasslands

Producers of Temperate Grasslands

Grasses, shrubs, trees, mosses, lichens, and cyan bacteria are some of the many producers found in a grassland ecosystem.

Net Primary Production

Works Cited http://biology.about.com/od/landbiomes/a/aa042106a.htm

http://www.defenders.org/grasslands/temperate-grasslands

http://www.ask.com/question/where-are-temperate-grasslands-located

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_grassland

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2006/06/26/birds-in-the-news-64-v2n15/

http://web.bryant.edu/~langlois/coastal/colect3productivity.htm